Here's a shirt for your elevator speech

There's still time to get one of our custom printed t-shirts--free!

You can have a lot of fun with this shirt. The open-ended "ask me" offers a huge green light for conversation.

This is great if you are selling something, including a philosophy, religious message, political view, or favorite cause. If you have your "elevator speech" ready when someone asks you, you can engage the questioner in a great conversation.

Here's how to win: Notify us by email at CreativityOn@comcast.net that you want a free shirt. Include the size of shirt you want (S, M, L, XL, or 2XL.) We'll randomly select five winners from all entries received by 9am August 31, 2009. We'll notify the winners personally by email.

New to Creativity On? Visit our website.

Color charts for printing on colored fabric

When a client comes to us wanting to print their graphic on a color fabric, the best way to predict how a certain color will print on a certain color is to print a test color chart on that color. In direct to garment printing, the fabric color makes a great deal of difference to the final product.

People often come up with their logos on a white computer screen page. Their designs are geared toward white backgrounds. Then when they want to print on fabric, they sometimes have to re-think their whole project.

Recently a client came to us with a new business logo that featured a light green title. It worked great when printed on white but when printed on medium gray, the light green print disappeared into the gray. By using our color chart printed on gray, we could choose a darker shade of green that would work.

When designing a logo or a graphic specifically for printing on a colored t-shirt, the best way to test it is to print using an inkjet printer on colored paper that matches the fabric. A less accurate but still useful way is to set a background color in your illustration or image editing program and then blending the top colors and the background colors.

With the color chart we can tweak colors to get better looking results from colors that shifted dramatically from computer file to actual printed product.

Another New Business Goes DTG

The launch of another new business, Makawee Landscape Maintenance, presented us with another opportunity to introduce someone to direct-to-garment (DTG) printing.

In screen printing, the colors of the ink would be solid and opaque. But with DTG, the eco friendly water-based ink interacts with the fabric as you can clearly see here. This adds a rich look to the garment.

Based on the client's design specifications we designed the logo in Adobe Illustrator so that we could easily resize it for many uses from business flyers to business cards and of course apparel. The logo will also be digitized for embroidery.

If you have a small business and you think it's time to get some uniforms made, give us a call. We'll help you step into the right stuff.

An Often-Overlooked Advantage of DTG

One of the distinct advantages of direct-to-garment printing (DTG) is that unlike screen printing, our printer renders gradient blends. In the photo above, the blend is in grayscale.

In screen printing, a logo like this would usually be rendered in black and white without the grays in between. So if you have a nice black, white, and gray graphic, check out your DTG options with us before you commit to screenprinting.

We are always happy to look at your graphic files and tell you what we can do for you.

Play for the Cure

We sent a bunch of printed t-shirts off for this weekend's Play for the Cure. T-shirts were just one of the items we produced for this charitable event. We also produced embroidered vests and totes and printed head and wrist bands.

If your non-profit is into fund-raising efforts with printed or embroidered apparel, give us a call. We like working with you.

Embroidery machines humming

Our machines hummed with activity getting these embroidered polo shirts out for the realtors from Windermere Pacific West Properties who are showing people the great new condominiums at 295 Church Street in downtown Salem.

Another Creativity On Shirt Giveaway

We're doing it again! We're giving away five of our custom printed t-shirts.

You can have a lot of fun with this shirt. The open-ended "ask me" offers a huge green light for conversation.

This is great if you are selling something, including a philosophy, religious message, political view, or cause celebre. If you have your "elevator speech" ready when someone asks you, you can engage the questioner in a great conversation.

This can also provide great fun outside of the world of commerce. Maybe you want to suprise someone with an announcement. Wear a shirt like ths and create your opening. "Ask you what?"

Stand-by for excitement!

Here's how to win: Notify us by email at CreativityOn@comcast.net that you want a free shirt. Include the size of shirt you want (S, M, L, XL, or 2XL.) We'll randomly select five winners from all entries received by 9am August 31, 2009. We'll notify the winners personally by email.

New to Creativity On? Visit our website.

How do we embroider a bag?

Jolene thought you might like to see what embroidering a bag looks like on one of our embroidery machines. In this case the red bag has been loaded on the Tajima machine.

We do various types of duffel bags, tote bags, backpacks, and so on. Often these are requested by companies seeking to outfit their employees with cool embroidered stuff. It's particularly classy for business travel, trade shows, and anywhere else where promoting company image is a high priority.

Of course, we also provide resellers, company stores, and gift stores with these kinds of items. They often make good sellers and are very classy.

Real Estate Photography Tips

If you are a Realtor or are thinking of selling your home (either yourself or with professional help), this is for you.

Unbelievably Bad Real Estate Photos Hall of Fame is a great starting place that I found on the Internet. (Tip: You have to click "run" on the navigation buttons to make the show go.)

For something more serious there's an article for realtors on how photos either help or sink a real estate deal.

I also wrote an article on real estate photography tips for our Creativity On website.

The photos above are from my personal collection. The top photo is the one I took by visiting the site. The photo below it is what the Realtor took and submitted for a home for sale ad!

Yes, those are photos of the same house! It's amazing what you can find when you step out of the car. This was such a unique home.

Finally, here is a gallery of some of my favorite real estate photos that I have taken.

Printed T-shirts

Beautiful printed t-shirts keep rolling off the Creativity On press. This time it's a big order for our friends at Valley Health and Postal Employees Credit Union.

The direct to garment printing method makes it particularly easy to convert your art into shirts whether it's black on color or full color on a lighter fabric. You may have some great art on your computer that would make a great shirt for your business, team, or club.

Direct to garment printed tees

On the work table today are dozens and dozens of printed shirts. In this case the art was created in grayscale and printed on beautiful blue shirts.

Unlike screen printing, there is no rubbery feel to the printed image. The ink is sprayed on through inkjet technology, then heat-pressed to bond the ink to the fabric. The result is that when you rub your hand over the printed image, you feel nothing but shirt. And you can wash it repeatedly without worry about it racking or peeling.

When printing in black or dark grays, you can print on most colors and still show a sharp blended image. This is a very popular look today!

Embroidered hats on the work table

The embroidery machines have been whirring and buzzing with activity!

If you are looking for embroidered caps for your group or business, please give us a call or visit our website for more details.